12 



The Florists' Review 



July 26, 11117 



found tliat one has been there many 

 years, the otliers coming later. And it 

 also will usually be found that only one 

 or two are successes, wliile tlie (ttliers 

 are eitlier breakiiifi^ even or are losers. 



Haviiifi^ discovered wliicli is tlie spot 

 passed by the most ])eople (»t' the class 

 likely to buy ilowers, tlic would-be 

 florist begins to hunt a store. For right 

 here it miglit be said that there are no 

 ideal locations for a flower store that 

 are vacant. If the store was vacant it 

 probably would not be suitable either 

 for a flower store or any other kind of 

 store, or it would have been snapped up 

 before. 



Instead of going to a renting agent 

 to inquire what the rent of such a place 

 is, the seeker for a store location must 

 find out what are tlie possibilities of 

 there being a vacancy in the neighbor- 

 hood he has selected; and if there is 

 going to be a vacancy, how much rent 

 will be required to secure the lease. 



High Rent Takes Profits. 



Bent is an overhead expense that 

 goes on in dull as in busy seasons. There 

 is no escape. Help and delivery can be 

 increased or decreased as the business 

 demands, but not so the rent. 



What proportion of the gross annual 

 sales should be expended for rent? That 

 is a difficult question to answer, be- 

 cause it varies under different condi- 

 tions. A florist doing a gross business 

 of $10,000 per year cannot afford to 

 pay out so large a percentage of his 

 gross as the one doing $100,000 per 

 year. At the same time, the $10,000-a- 

 year florist will have a higher percent- 

 age of profit at the end of the year, al- 

 though not so much in the aggregate. 



High-class residence sections provide 

 the ideal locations for the florist who 

 has not sufficient capital to start a store 

 in the business district, where a much 

 greater investment is required. But 

 there are many things to be considered 

 in selecting a site in a residence dis- 

 trict, more, even, than in finding a suit- 

 able location downtown. 



In Besidence Districts. 



The questions a florist should find 

 the answers to are: 



Are the residents of this neighbor- 

 hood able to buy flowers? 



Are the residents of this neighbor- 

 hood of a type that likes the good things 

 of life, or are they of the class that 



has money, but believes in hoarding it? 



There is a fine distinction between the 

 latter two classes, as florists have dis- 

 covered. Many people who have money 

 do not buy s(» many flowers as others 

 who have less. 



Having selected the neighborhood 

 wherein it is believed a flower store 

 will pros])er, the choice of a location 

 which is most easily accessible to these 

 I)eople is the next consideration. 



Location means little in getting the 

 trade of those who habitually ride in 

 automobiles. Several blocks more or 

 less make no difference to the auto 

 owner. However, distance does make 

 a difference to the car rider. 



A man buys flowers, not when he is 

 going to business in the morning, but 

 when he returns from business in the 

 evening. He boards the car on one cor- 

 ner and alights from it diagonally op- 

 posite. The latter is the spot. Not on 

 the corner, necessarily, but near enough 

 so that when he gets off the window 

 display will be in the direct line of his 

 vision. His thoughts are of home and it 

 is only natural that, as his eye rests 

 upon the blooms in the window, he will 

 desire to have them whether or not he 

 buys at that particular time. 



Getting and Keeping Trade. 



This, of course, is what is called tran- 

 sient trade, but a customer has the first 

 time to enter any store. Whether he 

 comes back depends on the service he 

 gets, the quality of the flowers and the 

 nearness of the store to his home. A 

 few stops and satisfying purchases and 

 at no time will he think of flowers that 

 he does not think of the store near his 

 home. 



However, there are other considera- 

 tions than catching the homeward- 

 bound householder, because there are 

 many hours of the day when he is not 

 in evidence. 



There are people who go to a certain 

 street daily and rarely, if ever, cross 

 it. Traffic from one direction to that 

 street also is many times of a differ- 

 ent character tlian that from the other. 

 Streets witli car lines often are the di- 

 viding lines between high-class and the 

 other kind of neighborhoods. 



The best location, of course, is where 

 the florists' shop will stem the tide of 

 the bettor class of pedestrians, even 

 though it is on the opposite side from 

 the s])ot where the business man gets 



off the car. This has been provon 1 



the fact that a flower store on 



the 



side has been practically a failure n"*! 



by moving across the street h;is ij " 



turned into a success. ^" 



Building a Business. 



New neighborhoods, where apart 

 ment houses and homes are rapi.Hy u 

 ing built and where families ;ue be 

 coming more numerous each yeai-, pr^ 

 vide locations where a florist cai; Ijuju 

 up a substantial business that v, ;il \,^_ 

 come better and better as the vears 

 pass. One successful florist opiMed a 

 store in the heart of a high-class resi- 

 dence district many years ago. His 

 business prospered, but gradual!, the 

 character of the district changu ;. ^ 

 majority of his customers mov d to 

 more desirable sections, but they con. 

 tinned to buy of the man who ha ; sold 

 them for years. The advent of tin auto 

 truck gave him a means by whi. U he 

 could render the same service at i dis. 

 tance of several miles that he gave his 

 customers when they lived but ;i few 

 blocks away. He built a substantial 

 business in the neighborhood and held 

 that business, despite the change in the 

 character of near-oy residents. 



Theater and Hotel Buildings. 



New theaters and new hotels are al- 

 ways attractions for florists' stores. 

 The character of the patronage these 

 places draw makes them seem favorable 

 locations for flower stores. Sometimes 

 they are and sometimes they are not. 



Too much dependence should not be 

 placed on the fact that people goiii>; to 

 theaters and to dine at hotels, no mat- 

 ter how high the class of these places, 

 arc at the time pleasure seeking and 

 therefore likely to buy flowers. It often 

 happens that they have been provided 

 or have provided themselves with flow- 

 ers before leaving their homes. 



But either one of these locations is 

 good providing there are more tiian 

 the hotel-dining and theater-going 

 crowds from which to draw patronage. 

 If the neighborhoods in which these 

 places are located are high-class and if 

 the store is so situated that the near- 

 by residents pass it in their 'ordinary 

 daily movements, there is every reason 

 to believe that the business will I'l' a 

 success. 



Selecting a location for a retail store 

 is the first move in starting such a h\m- 



j.^^ These Two Locations are Only Three Blocks Apart, but There is Great Difference in Value from a Retailer's Viewpoint. 



